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Pastor Mack Patrick (he/they) serves as an Assistant to the Bishop in the Northern Illinois Synod focusing on communications, stewardship, and works with youth and young adults. As a transgender pastor in the ELCA, Pastor Mack strives to make the church a more inclusive and accessible place for all of God’s beloved children. Outside of work, you can find Pastor Mack reading in a hammock, building things with Legos, tinkering with technology, or riding roller coasters. Pastor Mack is proud to have served on the 2024 tAble Planning Team for the ELCA Youth Gathering. Our blog post for this month…

Warm-up Question Who is the best teacher that you’ve ever known? What made them so good? A GOAT in the Pressbox Recently, Tom Brady began calling professional football games as an announcer on FOX. Brady is often considered the Greatest of All Time (GOAT) as a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL). This expertise led to him receiving a massive contract worth $ 375 million to move from the field and into the pressbox. After two weeks of calling games, reviews are mixed on Brady’s performance in his new role. Some—including many fans whose teams lost to Brady during…

Barth appeals to the primacy of Jesus Christ in all things. In one instance, in his Church Dogmatics, he is developing what it means to understand that Jesus is God’s ultimate plan for all of creation, all of history; which ultimately entails a disruption from all else, even as all else is taken up into the life of Christ as God’s history for the world. Here Barth is in the process of developing his treatment on such things, with particular reference to a doctrine of time vis-à-vis eternity. We will pick up with him mid-paragraph: At any rate, as a…

“For what shall we pray?” is a weekly post inviting individuals, groups, and congregations to lift up our world in prayer. This resource is prepared by a variety of leaders in the ELCA and includes prayer prompts, upcoming events and observances, and prayer suggestions from existing denominational worship materials. You are encouraged to use these resources as a starting point, and to adapt and add other concerns from your local context. More information about this resource can be found here.   Prayer prompts: For peace in our world, especially in Gaza and Israel, Ukraine and Russia, Syria, Sudan, Myanmar, and…

In celebration of National Hispanic Heritage Month which is celebrated in the United States September 15- October 15, we share the following article which is cross-posted from Living Lutheran. The original post can be found here. Empowering a New Generation | Empoderando a una Nueva Generación The Latiné Leadership Summit | La Cumbre de Liderazgo Latiné This past month, just in time to kick off National Hispanic Heritage Month with a celebration, the ELCA’s Lutheran Center in Chicago transformed into a dynamic hub of growth, learning and community. Young L3s (Latiné Lutheran Leaders) came together for the Latiné Leadership Summit:…

Dialogical theology. It is one of our theses we put forward in our first Evangelical Calvinism book. What is it; what are its entailments; and why am I such a strong proponent of it? In nuce, dialogical theology is exactly what it sounds like: it is a theological “method” that allows the object of theology, who is also Subject for us, to confront us, to speak to us first that we might speak to Him; that we might come to know Him as He knows Himself from a center in Himself for us in Jesus Christ. So, this approach, this…

Each month ELCA Worship highlights resources and events from other organizations and institutions. These Lutheran and ecumenical partner organizations work alongside the ELCA to support worship leaders, worship planners, musicians, and all who care about the worship of the church. Association of Lutheran Church Musicians ALCM nurtures and equips musicians to serve and lead the church’s song. ALCM Fall Webinar Series   “For all that is to be” Summer conference Aug. 4-8, 2025 Raleigh-Durham, N.C.  Join us in Raleigh! Mark your 2025 calendars now for August 4-8 and plan to register in the “Early, Early” category, which will offer substantial…

Drew Tucker, Westerville, OH Warm-up Questions Have you ever had to move to a new home? If so, what was that like? If not, what do you imagine are the biggest challenges to moving? Finding a New Home Recently, both on social media and in political discourse, the city of Springfield in Ohio has gotten a lot of attention. A viral TikTok accused Haitian immigrants of stealing and eating pets in the area. Despite the fact that Springfield police, Haitian community leaders, and local residents from across the political spectrum all deny these unfounded accusations, the story has become a…

God’s judgment, I would suggest, entails false choices often times. In this case, America is faced with a POTUS decision wherein Kamala Harris&co. seemingly are the archrivals of humanity all the way down. But then there is Trump. Trump has radically changed his tune in regard to abortion. He supports the accessibility of the abortion pill by mail; he has had the RNC, effectively, change their official platform on abortion and the abortion pill; he is for abortion in cases of rape and incest. Not to mention, he gave us the lockdowns, warp speeded the deadly vaccines, and is for…

“For what shall we pray?” is a weekly post inviting individuals, groups, and congregations to lift up our world in prayer. This resource is prepared by a variety of leaders in the ELCA and includes prayer prompts, upcoming events and observances, and prayer suggestions from existing denominational worship materials. You are encouraged to use these resources as a starting point, and to adapt and add other concerns from your local context. More information about this resource can be found here.   Prayer prompts: For peace in our world, especially in Gaza and Israel, Ukraine and Russia, Syria, Sudan, Myanmar, and…